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(Photo by Peter Hvizdak – New Haven Register) During a photography portrait session with a New Haven Register photographer on Jan. 30, 2014, in New Haven, an African-American male of New Haven, a convicted felon in his late 20s, shows off a 9mm Smith & Wesson model 659 semi-automatic firearm that he says is stolen and which he says he uses for his personal protection.

A striking and sure-to-be-controversial photo leads the New Haven Register’s website and print edition front page this morning. “Joe,” an anonymous New Haven man, poses in a menacing, face-covering disguise with a handgun that he says is both stolen and against the law for him to possess since he is a convicted felon.

1. We are generally uncomfortable with using anonymous sources, for a lot of reasons. What ulterior motives might be at play that anonymity would cover up? How do we confirm what they are saying is true?

2. Is the photo constructive in telling the story and conveying information and meaning to readers, or is it gratuitous “click bait” at best, and glorifying of some kind of tough guy violence mentality at worst?

We were comfortable with the first point because Shahid did the work to be confident that “Joe” is who he says he was. There was little to nothing to be gained by talking to us. Point by point, we checked out what he said to us (for example, that guns are sometimes stolen from National Guard armories) and ran counter-point from law enforcement and others. Most of all, we felt that anonymity was justified in this case because of how important, and rare, it is to hear from the kind of person no one ever hears from when urban violence and illegal guns are written about.

We were comfortable (for the most part) about the photo because it vividly conveyed the subject matter, and provided a telling contrast between the projection of strength young men make in arming themselves vs. the fear and desperation expressed in our interview with “Joe.”

If politicians can with indignation and a straight face say that black is white, and white is black, what is truth, and what becomes of an informed democracy? The fail-safe, one would like to believe, is good journalism. But the lies have become more brazen, and the liars have realized they can build their own alternate reality narrative, and take it directly to the people. Reporting that is slightly to the fact checking-side of “he said, she said” isn’t enough to inform the public about the depths of that kind of manipulation.

On Friday, The Register Citizen covered a press conference by Mark Lauretano, a former state trooper who is seeking the Republican nomination to challenge incumbent 64th District state Rep. Roberta Willis (D-Salisbury). Our headline parroted Lauretano’s accusation that Willis was “responsible” for the University of Connecticut failing to properly investigate and respond to sexual assaults on campus.

Acting as though he and his party were on the forefront of confronting this issue, Lauretano held up a book about the problem of sexual assault in this country. He blasted Willis for questioning during a public hearing on the UConn sex assault issue why celebrity lawyer Gloria Allred was in attendance, and said that as chairwoman of the Connecticut General Assembly’s Higher Education Committee she was responsible for not doing something previously about the problem.

Lauretano did not mention Willis’s long track record of advocacy for tougher laws and enforcement of existing laws against sexual assault, including specifically on college campuses.

He did not mention his own complete lack of public record on speaking out about the issue, or that of the group of (all) Republican men assembled with him at his press conference, including people who would repeal Roe vs. Wade and strip women of reproductive rights.

So we ran a headline allowing someone who has no public record of raising his voice to do anything about sexual assault or rape culture in this state, and who actually opposes legislation to address it, to accuse a longtime leading voice against it of being responsible for the sex assault problem at UConn, when she’s actually been one of the few legislators calling attention to and fighting it.

P.S. – Maybe it shouldn’t surprise us how brazen Mark Lauretano could be in saying outrageous things considering the company he keeps. Front and center at his press conference, and mugging for the camera with him, was Joe Visconti, an also-ran candidate for the Republican nomination for governor this year who says things like this:

Day was features editor of the Press for 13 years prior to serving as editor of Middletown Patch for the past three years. She is a resident of Middletown and an active school and community volunteer in the city, including serving as a member and chairman of the Middletown Arts Commission.

Her work has been recognized by the Connecticut Society of Professional Journalists numerous times over the course of her career, which has included freelance reporting for the West Hartford News and New Britain Herald, her previous stint at the Press, her work at Patch and a tenure as listings editor for the Hartford Advocate.

She holds a degree in English and journalism from Central Connecticut State University.

After graduating from the University of New Haven, Amarante started his career at the New Haven Journal-Courier in the 1970s. He has more than 28 years experience covering television, radio and other media, and is a former member of the Television Critics Association.

He was TV Editor at the New Haven Register for years, and most recently has served the paper as a general assignment reporter, columnist and editor. His column writing has been recognized with awards by SPJ, the New Haven Committee on Italian Migration and the Hamden Unitas Club. He is married to Sue and has four children.

Tom Cleary has been promoted to the statewide position of Breaking News Editor, and Christine Tansey has been promoted to the position of Digital Editor.

Tom Cleary

Cleary will oversee an expanded team of breaking news reporters, and Tansey will oversee an expanded team of web and mobile producers in addition to photography staff at the New Haven Register.

Cleary most recently served as co-managing editor of The Register Citizen in Torrington. Previously, he was a breaking news reporter for the Connecticut Post in Bridgeport and Hearst’s other Connecticut newspapers. He is a graduate of Fairfield University.

Christine Tansey

Tansey previously led a smaller team of web producers based in New Haven. She started her career at the New Haven Register as a newsroom graphic artist. She is a graduate of the University of Connecticut.

As part of the expansion, Mercy Quaye has been promoted from a reporting position at The Register Citizen to a breaking news reporter based in New Haven. She is a New Haven native who interned for the New Haven Register before graduating from Quinnipiac University with a journalism degree.

Adam Stuhlman has been named as the first participant in an annual paid internship program at the New Haven Register established in the memory of longtime editor and reporter Ann DeMatteo.

Adam Stuhlman

“Adam is looking to gain more experience to break into the field full-time,” said New Haven Register Managing Editor Mark Brackenbury. “He is just the kind of person Ann would have taken under her wing, so I think she would be pleased that he is joining us for the next couple of months.”

The program was announced earlier this year, after DeMatteo passed away at the age of 56 after a battle with cancer. DeMatteo worked for 34 years as a reporter, bureau chief and editor at the New Haven Register. She was named managing editor of its sister daily, The Middletown Press, in the fall of 2012.

For many years, DeMatteo ran the internship program at the New Haven Register, training dozens of future journalists.

Ann DeMatteo

Stuhlman is a graduate of Southern Connecticut State University with a bachelor’s degree in journalism. He has worked as a freelance reporter for the New Haven Register, CTNewsJunkie.com, the Middletown Press, the New Britain Herald and the Hartford Guardian.

He is also active with the Veterans Art Foundation, which uses art therapy to help veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.

Donna Doherty is retiring from the New Haven Register this week, on the day before Thanksgiving. We’re not sure what to do about it.

Donna Doherty

As arts editor since 2005, Donna has become an authority on a segment of life and culture that is hugely important to our community. We’re not sure how to replace her, because we know we won’t be able to match what she contributes to our newsroom. And if we’d been smarter about realizing what we had in Donna, we would have given her a team of minions to smartly explore the richness of the arts scene around Yale University, New Haven, the Shoreline and beyond.

The remarkable thing about Donna is that this role was just the latest diverse gig in the career of a Renaissance woman.

Decades ago, she was a sports reporter for the New Haven Register. She went on to serve as editor of Tennis magazine. She covered courts at one point. Here’s her account of covering the Black Panthers trial for the New Haven Register as a 20-year-old student at Northeastern University, and how the intensity of that assignment prompted her to go for a “change of pace” and try sports.

Our newspaper has been enriched greatly by Donna’s work, off and on, from the time she wrote as a student more than 40 years ago to her role covering the richness of the New Haven area arts scene. And we’ve been enriched to work beside her.

Matt DeRienzo is group editor of Digital First Media's publications in Connecticut, including the New Haven Register, Middletown Press, The Register Citizen of Torrington and non-daily publications including Connecticut Magazine, the Litchfield County Times and West Hartford News. Contact him at mderienzo@21st-centurymedia.com.